Box-car door



(No Model.)

L.. WAGNER.'

yB0X GAR DOOR.

' Patented Jan. 2, 1894.

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i Unirse STATES .Armar @unrest JOHN L. VAGNER, OF TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA.

BOX--CAR` DOOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 512,074, dated January 2, 1894.

Application filed September 2, 1893. Serial No. 484,674. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, JOHN L. VAGNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Terre Haute, in the county of Vigo and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful mprovements in BOX-Car Doors, of which the following is a specification.

The-object of my said invention is Ato pro= Aduce a simple, easily-operated and inexpensive door for freight cars. A car door and its attachments embodying my said invention will be first fully described, and the novel features thereof then pointed out in the claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof, and on which similar letters of reference indicate similar parts, Figure l is a side elevation of a portion of an ordinary box or freight car provided with a door embodying my said invention; Fig. 2 a transverse vertical sectional view through the door and adjacent parts, on.

an enlarged scale, as seen when looking" toward the left from the dotted line 2 2 inv Fig. l; Fig. 3 a detail sectional view similar to a portion of Fig. 2,1on a still further enlarged scale; Fig. 4 a detail sectional view as seen when looking toward the left from the dotted line 4 et in Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 a View similar to Fig. 3, but showing a somewhat differentconstruction.

In said drawings the portions marked A represent the side and frame of the body of the car; B the car door; C the upper rail for supporting and guiding said door; D a shorter rail secured to the side of the car, whereto .said ear door is attached at its middle por` tion, and E a truck or roller secured to the car door' and running upon the rail D.

' The car body A and door B in themselves are or may be of any ordinary or desi-red construction. The railC is a plain rail and extends across the top of the door opening. Said rail is shown as extending out to one side of the door opening a distance substantially equal to the width of the door; but it may obviously be cut o close to the side of the door opening without destroying the utility of the device, although in this case a second stop A3 would preferably be provided upon the car body at a point bearing about the same relation to the upper corner that the stop shown does to the The rail D is centrally secured to the car body, with the bar or blocks A2 interposed between said rail and said body, at a point about half way between the upper and lower edges of the door, being about one-half the, ordinary length of the rail for this purpose. This rail like the rail O is a plain thin at bar of iron. Y

The door B is suspended upon the rails C and D by means of a hanger B" secured upon its upper front corner, and which hooks up over said rail C, and by the truck E secured to the central portion of its rear side, and which rests upon the rail D. Said door is provided with the usual handle B2, whereby it is operated, and with a lock strap BS which is adapted to engage with a staple ct at the side of the door opening in the car body. Its upper edge, as will be seen by an inspection of Figs. l and 2, extends up under the edge of the rail C, and is thus there held in place, and it is prevented from swinging outwardly at the lower edge'by means of engagement of the wheel or truck E with the railD, as will be presently described. It is limited in its movement, in opening, by the stop A3 upon the side of thev car body,4 which stop also `serves to hold the door, when open, from lwhich housing is securely attached to the door B from the inside. Said door being usually of two thicknesses, said housing is preferably as thick as one of the thicknesses composing the door, and a space is easily formed therefor by cutting out a corner from one of the pieces comprising said door. The inner thickness of said door just below where this housing is located is divided, so that a `groove extends from one si'de to the other,

which receives the rail D and the bar or blocks A2 upon which it is mounted, as shown most plainly'in Figs. 3 and 4. The wheel or truck E itself is shown as flanged, with Iche fialnges e extending down on each side of the rail D,

' and the door is thus held properly in position on said rail. Instead of tlanging the truck, however, the construction of the housing may be such as to include iianges extending down over the edges of the rail D in which case the truck maybe plain and without the flanges e, as shown in Fig. 5. In this case the housing may be thicker and heavier than is shown, and this would be for some considerations preferable.

The door, by my arrangement, as will be readily seen, is held at two points only, and by very simple and inexpensive devices,which are not liable to get out of order, and which, nevertheless, operate easily and without dit'- iculty.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination of a car A having an ordinary door opening, a rail C secured above said door opening, a rail D secured to one side of the door opening about midway between the upper and lower sides thereof, a door B provided with a hanger B at its upper front 

